Amedeo Modigliani

Amedeo Modigliani, the quintessential bohemian artist, lived a life as elongated and dramatic as the portraits he painted. This Italian painter and sculptor, who worked mainly in France, is famous for his nudes and portraits with swan-like necks and blank, almond-shaped eyes. He was a man of contradictions: a dapper dresser who was often penniless and a charming intellectual who would drunkenly strip in public. Rumor has it his only solo exhibition was shut down by the police, not for the nudity, but for the scandalous depiction of pubic hair. Another juicy tidbit suggests the limestone for his sculptures was "borrowed" from city construction sites. While these tales add to his mystique, what's certain is that Modigliani, whose nickname "Modi" was a play on the French word for "cursed," created a uniquely modern and influential body of work before his tragic death at 35.